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REACTION POST: MockingJay Part 2 Trailer #2

We have another trailer, so you know what that means! It’s time for a Victor’s Village reaction post!

This one starts off on a bit of a sad note– You’ll notice that Them There Eyes is no longer with us. She’s stepped away from the Internet for a while to focus on some real life commitments, but we still love her to death and wish her all the best!

As for JJ and The Girl With The Pearl, We March Together with you through the glorious battlefield of fandom (See what we did there?!) And so, the reaction post goes on!

Be aware that this baby contains spoilers if you haven’t read the books! Also, there’s lots to it, so be sure to hit the “READ MORE” link if you’re viewing from the main page!

WHY ARE WE MARCHING?!

The Girl With The Pearl: Let’s start with this: The trailer has a name, which is not always something we’ve seen in the past. What do you think of We March Together?

Are we referring to this *cough* TOTALLY NATURAL marching scene?

JJ: Eh, it’s got that revolution vibe, which is good. And there is that scene of Katniss strutting down to “get” Snow. But… is does it add much to the actual trailer? Not sure. It feels like something they did to track views better online actually.

TGWTP: Being the picky bastard that I am, I couldn’t help but think about how they NEVER march together

JJ: Lol. But Paylor wants them too.

TGWTP: All these District are essentially using the same guerilla warfare tactics. No marching! Katniss sure never marched anywhere with anyone

JJ: Katniss doesn’t march with anyone, you’re right. It’s more of an afterthought of something that sounds good for trailer title.

TGWTP: It should be called We Want To March Together, then! Though it doesn’t have the same ring to it.

JJ: Marching together is for winners!

THE SNOW-DOWN

The greenhouse! The mansion in the distance! Hoooooly….

TGWTP: But I suppose the title doesn’t matter, because man… did this start with Snow’s final conversation with Katniss?!

JJ: Yes, I think they did. That’s one of the amazing thing about both the teaser and this trailer. They mush the timeline all around, yet it presents the story beautifully!

TGWTP: It’s not something non-readers would recognize, but for books fans… OOF! You can hear the raggedness of his voice, plus the image of Katniss approaching the greenhouse…

JJ: If you’ve got Donald Sutherland, use that’s man’s voice for all it’s worth. What a chilling open.

RECITING AND RECYCLING

TGWTP: And then we get Paylor, which is just so welcome. I kinda worry that characters like hers will be written off, but she’s prominent in a trailer!

Pay attention! Paylor knows what’s up!

JJ: I love that they are building her up. In the books, we don’t really see her rise because it happens away from Katniss, but I like how they’re really going to show her as a leader. Will make the ending make a lot more sense. And it was a great way to explain the plot of the movie quickly too.

TGWTP: Yes! We saw the tar before, now the people who haven’t read the books know what that’s about. And it establishes Paylor as a tactical leader.

JJ: Just in those few secs of her speech it solidifies her credibility as a leader. Good stuff

TGWTP: I did kinda laugh at the beginning of her speech though, because we get a quick look at Plutarch, Effie, and Haymitch– our only look at all three from this trailer– and it’s THE SAME CUT from the last trailer. We couldn’t find three different shots of those three?!

JJ: Yeah, bah, come on! There were a bunch of those reused shots.

TGWTP: Oh, I get that. We got plenty of recycling of scenes but that was so very obvious because it was a montage-y sequence.

THE FUTURE STARTS WITH REFERENCES OF BOOK LOVERS

JJ: But can we talk about the timing of when she talks about THE FUTURE STARTS TOMORROW.

TGWTP: YES. YES WE CAN. Because we see the future there! *flails*

The moment at which we all squealed!

JJ: That was just for us fans. Thanks to whoever cut that. You could think that was just a natural thing… but WE KNOW. A lot of the trailer has those type of fan-friendly moments. So thanks, guys!

TGWTP: Yes, somebody definitely said “Let’s throw THIS in here real quick for the big fans.”

TGWTP: And there were a couple moments where everything was combined to inflict maximum hurt, so let’s discuss those. Katniss talks about nothing good being safe while Snow is alive as she dances with Prim.

JJ: Yup, another moment taken from the teaser, but understandable since it’s the core of what she’s fighting for. And we need to make that end hurt more.

TGWTP: Gale talking about how Katniss needs to make her one shot count. URGH. That got to me.

JJ: Oooh, I didn’t pick up on that.

Tigris’ hair: Cockblocking Gale’s lines since last week

TGWTP: It’s very quick. She says she only has one shot. He says “Let’s make it count”

JJ: Oh yes, when he’s in Tigris’s shop. I was distracted by Tigris’s hair! But “making it count.” Ugh.

TGWTP: Exactly. Those are probably two different scenes (and yes, it’s Tigris!) but they’re blended for the best effect to reference Coin’s death later.

JJ: Messing with the timeline again! But it works. Then you have Peeta’s part.

TGWTP: I think it’s NO COINCIDENCE that they’re showing lizard mutts while Peeta is talking about Snow owning their deaths and how the deaths matter if Katniss defeats Snow.

JJ:“Our lives were never ours…” *tears* Finnick battling the lizards was a great shot.

TGWTP: That is an incredible line. Screenwriting prowess, ftw!

LIZARD-ALIEN-RESIDENT-EVIL MUTTS

The stuff of nightmares

TGWTP: Speaking of lizard mutts, what did you think of them?

JJ: Scary as hell. Maybe not as lizard-like as I thought but super menacing. I’ll have nightmares.

TGWTP: They’re not very lizard-like, but I’m not too picky because damn, they work! Though they did kinda remind me of Resident Evil “lickers”, a bit

JJ: Lizard-alien-mutts to me. But it looks like they’re built to have some intense fight scenes.

FINNICK! NOOOOOO!

TGWTP: And we get a really good shot of Finnick kicking ass *sniff*

JJ: At least he goes out fighting like a badass.

TGWTP:*Three finger salute to a total BAMF*

THEY ACTUALLY SHOWED THAT!

TGWTP: Moving on, the next bit of new footage slayed me: Katniss says “Turn your weapons to The Capitol” and then the silver parachute bombs start fluttering down…

JJ: I COULDN’T BELIEVE THEY SHOWED THE PARACHUTES.

TGWTP: And though it’s up for debate, someone is totally turning their weapons to The Capitol there.

Just some silver parachutes! NBD, right?! *withers*

JJ: But the amazing thing was again, if you didn’t read the books you still have NO IDEA.

TGWTP: YES! Imagine how many people are like “Oh, Capitol people getting aid…” NOPE.

JJ: The shot of the parachutes in the sky and you’re looking up like you’re amongst the kids. That looks like a totally innocent shot. Genius!!

TGWTP: Brilliant shot that totally gutted me. Casual reminder that a bunch of children are about to die

JJ: That’s the scene that will really shock non-book readers.

THE REAL MONTAGE OF HECK

TGWTP: And then we get the QUICKEST, FLASHIEST MONTAGE EVER.

JJ: What a way to end the last trailer lol. SHOT AFTER SHOT of good stuff. Builds the momentum incredibly, and really cool stuff for us to disect.

TGWTP: Highlights of which include Johanna, more lizard mutts, Tigris, and THE KISS.

JJ: BOOM BOOM BOOM.

She went FULL TIGER.

TGWTP: The last two being the really big deals, of course. What did you think of Tigris?

JJ: She looks way weirder than I thought. No doubt she’s a cat lady. But I dig it

TGWTP: I expected her to have tiger-like features but not to have essentially gone FULL TIGER. More like the freaky ass tiger lady with tons of cosmetic surgery.

JJ: In the Capitol they don’t do things halfway.

TGWTP: TRUTH.

This moment, guys. We can barely talk about it!

JJ: And then the kiss scene… PEETA LOOKS SO UPSET

TGWTP: I’d like to thank the Internet for GIF-ing that in about 10 seconds flat!

JJ: Very helpful. THANKS INTERNET!

TGWTP: It needed to be slowed down to fully enjoy, but it was so devastatingly poignant. The ultimate moment of looking at Peeta and just wanting to cry.

WRAPPING IT UP

TGWTP: Anything else to add?

JJ: Overall I really love the flow of the trailer. It builds and builds AND BUILDS to the crazy montage at the end. It was really effective.

TGWTP: This is the most intense trailer we’ve seen so far and it really drives in the message that this is the final battle for freedom. But there’s so many great references for book lovers in there too. It gets ALL THE POINTS.

JJ: And I’m sure it will send a message to all those whiners who were “UGH MOCKINGJAY PART 1 DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH ACTION.” Is this good enough for you???

Great Reaction Post as usual! As I noted in my initial reaction, I do like the Paylor shot because it provides great exposition as well as giving a glimpse into her “on the job” as a leader. It also keeps the story from a completely nihilistic “here comes the old boss, same as the new boss” ending that some fans seem to interpret the end to be, even after Coin dies, some seem to assume Paylor wasn’t much better.

And certainly, the fact that she kept Plutarch on does suggest she did have to compromise her ideals at times. (I think Plutarch himself was motivated by personal ambition above all else.) But it does seem she kept Panem at peace and did NOT re-instate the Games, and that Katniss felt comfortable having children in the post-war world, which I doubt she would have if Paylor was a failure. I tend to think of her as SC’s version of JKR’s Kingsley Shacklebolt, both are fairly minor characters who wind up at the top politically in the end, and are meant to be decent, though not perfect, leaders.

One scene in the trailer you didn’t comment on, but I’m curious about your take on, is the movie version of Peeta’s speech right after Katniss admits lying about being on a mission to kill Snow. Many fans have stated the speech is OOC for Peeta, that he never encouraged Katniss to kill Snow in the books. But on the other hand, he didn’t object to her killing him, either, and seemed to back her up with the “you still have no idea what effect you have” speech in the books. So I didn’t find it that extremely OOC, and I also think we can’t judge an edited trailer too hastily, either.

I also think this trailer is very crafty in slipping in references to Coin’s ultimate end game and how Katniss reacts to it, yet keeps that final twist secret. I have faith that the movie will deliver these twists in a way that will shock non-book fans at first, but will have most of them reflecting “come to think of it, there WERE a lot of hints all along that Coin wasn’t all good…”